The Orc and the Tower
The Orc and the Tower is an illustrated Choose Your Own Adventure-style story with a sword and sorcery theme.
I draw the scenarios and my patrons get to vote on what happens next! It got it's name from the character patrons voted to continue as from this initial lineup. Here's what's happened so far...
You have just stepped onto the dock of a foreign land in search of your fortune.
You are a...
The moon is rising as you leave the wharf.
Wandering through the cobbled streets you hear talk of an evil wizard’s tower, perched atop a cliff at the very edge of the seaside town.
The riches of a king and the dastardly guardians are said to inhabit the tower in equal measure, but you find yourself losing interest and head toward the tower before you hear any real specifics.
Upon reaching the outer gardens surrounding the tower you are faced with the tower’s imposing shape in the moonlight.
Rough cut stones make up its surface with balconies jutting out from the higher levels, it looks climbable.
Golden light pours through the cracks in a heavy wooden door at the front of the tower. You stand in the shadows of a pine tree outside listening to the frogs sing in the pond at the foot of the tower.
The pond is fed by a spring contained within the base of the tower. It trickles out through a small tunnel with a grated entrance below you.
...an Orc in a loincloth!
...take the wet way and pry open the tunnel entrance.
It’s time to see what's inside, after considerable internal debate you...
The Orc and the Tower: Pt 2
You wade quietly through the shallow pond as a shaft of pale moonglow falls upon the rusted bars that impede your trespass into the tower.
Using the anchor as a pry bar, you wrench at the grate with your thickly corded muscles. The rusted iron hinges groan and then obediently give way with a sharp shriek of rending metal.
Your passage down the tunnel is clumsy with anchor in tow,
but the sound is masked by the sound of flowing water, which gradually deepens as you head toward a faint green glow ahead. The sound of quiet moaning and panting breath reverberates off the slick stone walls.
You peer into the chamber from the shadows of the tunnel to find the origin of the sound:
The squirming, supple form of a blue sprite suspended in bondage. They are bound by the vines of a hideous flowering plant that grows from the horny skull of a long dead horny giant.
You leap from the water and...
...attempt to wrestle the demon plant into submission to free the spriteling, lest they be torn asunder in its fury from a direct assault.
The devilish union of flora and fertilizer seems to be drinking in the very power of the poor sprite,
who writhes, trapped on the edge of satisfaction. This sprite is very powerful indeed, and the plant seems to be growing before your very eyes.
A large jewel bathes the scene in an eerie, pulsing green glow from its mounting high above the tableau.
The growing plant seems to throb in time with the pulsing light and the room is thick with an arousing smell.
The Orc and the Tower: Pt 3
You hurl yourself upon the rooted devil, your brawny arms grabbing for the stalk of the plant that binds the sprite attempting to squeeze it into submission.
The leaves give a brittle shake around you as you squeeze the stalk ever tighter. New vines spring up about your feet causing you to lose your footing, but not your grasp on the wicked plant. The pulsing jewel begins to burn angrily brighter.
You feel the great stalk above your muscles begin to wither and bend,
even as you are being lifted off the ground. You give the spriteling an encouraging grin as they strive to free themselves and cling to you, their rescuer.
The jewel’s glow becomes a furious throbbing,
the light glinting off the dank dungeon walls with intensity to match your own sweating exertion as you strain against the coiled vines to defeat the devil plant.
The plant’s vines tighten around you as the jewels' light becomes a searing brightness until, with a sound like a thunderclap, it shatters.
All at once the spriteling is freed from the plant’s withering grasp. Having lost its life-sustaining captive, and exhausted the power of the jewel, the enchantment fades and the evil vine withers beneath you.
A faint light becomes apparent in the now darkened room, emanating from a staircase leading upward.
Which you must yet climb to claim the tower’s riches. The grateful spriteling, having showered you with gratitude for your heroism, gives you a gift before they depart.
The gift is...
...a belted loincloth of protection woven from the enchanted vines of the now dead plant.
After catching their breath, the spriteling works their magic upon the shriveled vines,
fastening them into a fine loincloth to replace yours that was wrested from your body in the fight.
You slip the loincloth on and feel a warm tingle as it touches your skin,
the woven vines seem to pleasantly hug at your hips rather than biting in like your old garb. You feel somehow protected and rejuvenated.
Upon ascending the dim stairs you find a room with two doors.
Both seem to lead upwards but where one is rather warm to the touch, the other seems to have tendrils of cold air seeping around the cracks in the door.
The Orc and the Tower Pt.4
You have found the tower’s vault of riches, enchanted to be bigger than the tower’s exterior would suggest.
The room is guarded by an immense dragon and a goat demon.
You weigh your options and decide to…
The Orc and the Tower Pt.5
You step forward, grasp the warm metal door handle and pull.
The door swings open on silent hinges, helped along by a furnace’s blast of heat and the scent of rare spices. The initial shock makes your head spin and knees weak. Upon regaining your composure, you creep forward quietly.
Their attention is diverted and your already silent footfalls are masked by the din of demonic snorting and molten sizzling.
You see an opportunity to steal some treasure, but each is more daring than the last.
